Real Dilemma - Laminitis Management/Treatment

[FudgieFoo]

I'll start from the beginning........... this might take a while.

May 2006 - my competition fit Welsh D went tottery lame in a lesson. She'd been slightly off for a little while. My instructor thought it could be laminitis as the grass had grown several inches in a week and Fudge was living out 24/7 though being worked daily and not overweight.

Farrier was called first. He came the following day - had kept her in since the morning before. Asked if he thought it was laminitis and he said no. Suggested it may be a bruise sole. Hot tubbed & poulticed for 3 days and then had pads put on front feet when reshod. Rode that day and she still felt unlevel though didn't look so in hand.

Next day got vet out. She also ruled out laminitis after flexion tests and nerve block in fetlock. She thought it was the opposite fore to the one I thought it was. Had x-rays of fetlock. She phoned and said she didn't think there was anything on x-rays but she wanted "super equine" vet to have a look. Waited over a week for her to phone again. She didn't phone until another vet came out to do swabs before Fudge went to stud. 2nd vet started poking her fingers in Fudge's fetlock and suddenly she thinks she has arthritis of the fetlock. Give her some time off was their recommendation. Its great to put her in foal. It will get better on its own. This was the point they said to turn her back out. She'd been in 2 weeks ish.

June/July - Fudge went off to stud. The first season she was there she came home for 2 weeks then she stayed there till it was confirmed she was in foal. The grazing there was sufficent and she wasn't fed. She seemed ok, maybe a little unlevel.

Aug/Sept - She came home and I put her on TopSpec feed balancer. The grazing is good at our yard and they was 4 of them on 12 acres. She seemed to do ok so after her 30 day scan I started riding her again just lightly walking out. She put on quite a bit of weight between mid Aug & mid Sept.

Oct - at the beginning of Oct when it was very wet she seemed to get tottery. I stopped riding her as i thought the arthritis had flared up. Put a rug on her and she seemed fine following that. She had heat in her coronets and slight pulses. Didn't start working her again. Changed to TopSpec Good Doer.

Nov - Got vet out 2 weeks ago as I thought she should have improved by now. Got "super equine vet" to come out. He thought it was in her foot. Pointed out she improves the more we trotted up going from 3/10th lame to 0.5/10ths lame. She was worse on the soft, better on the hard. He suspected laminitis or navicular or coffin joint. He pointed out the ring in her hoof and the raised coronet band. She is still living out 24/7.

She had x-rays of the feet and the vet phoned to say she had pedal bone rotation in both fore feet. She has it more so in the left fore. The feet are now bare following the x-rays and in desperate need for a trim. Vet said to get farrier to look at x-rays and phone him. Farrier still hasn't bothered to.

Got vet back on Mon as I wanted to discuss things with him. The fact she hobbles out the stable but seems fine coming in from the field. Farrier again had me trot her up in hand and lunge on hard & soft. She was very lame on the soft on the left fore. Vet said he thought the changes in the foot were putting a strain on the coffin joints due to the fact she is lamer on the soft not the hard (like with laminitis). He said she needs to lose at least 50kg and I should start lunging her and hacking her. He gave her a good trim.

So last night I attempted to lunge her. She was lame on and off. She'd do a couple of circuits sound then look really lame. I'd bring her back to walk and after a little walk she'd trot fine again???????

Then tonight I fetched her in from the field for her dinner and she was VERY footy. She had hot coronets and a pulse mainly in the left fore. Now could this be foot sore or is it laminitis. I can't get the vet out again he'll think I'm mad. I've left her in tonight but they are meant to be going out onto new grazing soon and its ankle high.

What I really need is some sort of management plan to try and get some improvement. Should I try stabling her and exercising her, even just in hand, till we've done a few trims? Should I get shoes on her? Is exercising her if she is sore right as this is what the vet is recommending?

Someone please give me some ideas I don't know what to do.

Thanks so much for reading!!!!

 

[eml]

Sounds as if you are having to deal with several issues. Obviously laminitus is/has been an issue to cause pedal bone rotation however this may have led to arthritic joint changes, hence the reluctance to move when having been in stable.

I am confused by the lamer on soft than hard as this normally suggests muscle as opposed to bone problems.

I think as far as management is concerned your first priority is to get a remedial farrier involved who can work with your vet. Work is usually recommended for both laminitus and arthritis dependent on the shoeing. I think you also need to review your feeding /grazing routine in light of the indication of laminitic changes, I don't think 4 horses on 12 acres of good grazing plus a feed balancer would be ideal..have a look at the 'Laminitus Trust' website.

I hope you can get these problems resolved as foaling introduces yet more issues in the potential laminitic mare.

 

[FudgieFoo]

Sounds as if you are having to deal with several issues. Obviously laminitus is/has been an issue to cause pedal bone rotation however this may have led to arthritic joint changes, hence the reluctance to move when having been in stable.

I am confused by the lamer on soft than hard as this normally suggests muscle as opposed to bone problems.

Vet thinks it is soft tissue causing the lameness. Due to new hoof shape putting pressure on coffin joint.

I think as far as management is concerned your first priority is to get a remedial farrier involved who can work with your vet. Work is usually recommended for both laminitus and arthritis dependent on the shoeing. I think you also need to review your feeding /grazing routine in light of the indication of laminitic changes, I don't think 4 horses on 12 acres of good grazing plus a feed balancer would be ideal..have a look at the 'Laminitus Trust' website.

I hope you can get these problems resolved as foaling introduces yet more issues in the potential laminitic mare.

They wouldn't divide the field. They are meant to be changing tomorrow onto about 2 acres but 1 acre of that is ankle high. There is no way I'm putting her out on that. I was going to put her out with a muzzle but I'm not happy with this either. I'm sticking with the TopSpec Good Doer as this is lamanitic society approved AND providing her with the vits & mins for foaly.

 

[Tizer]

Gosh I feel for you, I have two horses who have had Laminitis, it is very labour intensive to keep them well, I am lucky that I have them at home so turnout etc is much easier.

Firstly they never go onto fresh grazing, the other horses alway graze it down first.

They come in at times I know they have suffered, strangly enough frosty mornings have caused attacks of Laminitis.

I would be worried if I had them on lush grass whether it be 1 acre or 12, are you on a yard ?? if so the YO has a duty of care to provide you with correct grazing, and infact it could be benifial to her if your horse only had the grazed off stuff thus leaving the lush stuff for the others.

I give good quality hay on bare paddocks or when stabled, I also use TS anti-lam.

Have a look on the Laminitis Trust web site, there is lots of good info.

And most important find a good farrier, you said he hadn't gotten in touch with the vet re - xrays, this should have been his priority and I would have been very cross if this had been my farrier.

 

[Pottamus]

Sorry to hear about your horse but if there is even the slightest chance she could have lami she should not be going out into a field of any type, quantity or amount of grass until it is totally cleared up...and then re-introduced slowly.
She needs to be totally off all food except roughage based hay...and you might want to consider soaking that to get the nutrients out of it.
I would also not be working her until she is pain free and sound and then work her to get some of the weight off on a gradual basis.
I know it is difficult, especially if you are on a yard type place...but grass is just not the thing for her until she is sound again.

 

[Jessey]

To be perfectly honest, I would want to get another vet, from another practise to review the Xrays - it seems so odd that the first vet couldn't tell you anything from the Xrays and they obviously weren't concerned enough to follow it up as they said they would, it appears its only your persistance that got any answers. And I would have thought that Xrays sould have showen up any arthritic changes in the fetlock???
I would also be looking for another farrier or barefoot trimmer to help you with this as yours was clearly not concerned enough to get a wriggle on

I am confused by the lamer on soft than hard as this normally suggests muscle as opposed to bone problems

My boy was like that and it was a joint problem, but his got worse the more he worked.
If your mare becomes more sound with work (so long as you are confident the lami is healed) then I would assume light regular work/exercise would be the best thing for her.
Best of luck

J x

 

[lshort5]

Hi I'm a 3rd year BSc student at the Royal Veterinary College completing research in to 'Owners perceptions of laminitis: the role of diet in cause and management'. This will hopefully bridge the gap between what owners believe and what the current research says. This will help better direct future research and improve educational resources for owners to help our beloved horses and ponies. It would be greatly appreciated if you could take 10 minutes to complete this questionnaire.

Many thanks in advance!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...9rvcc2bjfLyoUgzJX4hMNggw/viewform?usp=sf_link